Extremely fortunate to be part of space mission, says Indian astronaut Shukla ahead of June 10 launch

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla embarks on historic ISS mission, calling preparations an "amazing journey" and feeling fortunate.

Ahead of his historic journey to the International Space Station (ISS), Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has termed the preparations for the Axiom-4 mission an "amazing journey" and that he was extremely fortunate to be part of something that is "much larger than yourself".

The 39-year-old Indian Air Force pilot is all set to travel with three other crew members to the ISS onboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket, that will lift off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) at 5:52 p.m. IST.

Mr. Shukla, who goes by the nickname "Shux", will be the second Indian to travel to space, 41 years after his idol Rakesh Sharma undertook a spaceflight in 1984 onboard the erstwhile Soviet Union's Soyuz spacecraft for an eight-day stay in orbit.

"It has been an amazing journey; these are the moments that really tell you that you are getting to be a part of something that is much larger than yourself. I can only say how extremely fortunate I am to be a part of this," Lucknow-born Mr. Shukla said in a short video issued by Axiom Space ahead of Tuesday's (June 10, 2025) launch.

Mr. Shukla's crewmates, Commander Peggy Whitson and mission specialists Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, describe him as "operational-savvy", "focused" and "wicked smart" when it comes to space technologies.

"Shux's wisdom, the knowledge he possesses, shows he could be 130-years-old," said Mr. Kapu, the second Hungarian astronaut to travel to space since 1980.

"For me, having him as my pilot in the dragon capsule is great. He is already operational-savvy and he is just wicked smart when it comes to spacecraft technologies," said Mr. Whitson, a veteran U.S. astronaut who has spent 675 days in space and undertaken 10 spacewalks.